South Korea Government Officials

Prosecutors said Friday that there is growing evidence that the younger brother of former President Chun Doo Hwan misappropriated millions of dollars from a community development organization. Prosecutor Kang Won Il said officials have seized secret ledgers showing how Chun's brother, Chun Kyung Hwan, and other top officials of the semi-official Saemaul Undong (New Community Movement) diverted funds.

A South Korean politician now living in Orange County has filed a civil lawsuit alleging he was retaliated against in his native country for exposing corruption involving the son and wife of the president.

Former South Korean President Kim Young Sam once called corruption "the Korean disease." Now his successor, reformer Kim Dae Jung, is facing a series of explosive scandals and finding it as hard as ever to eradicate the long-bemoaned, entrenched culture of influence peddling, cronyism and payola.

After just two days on the job, South Korean Justice Minister Ahn Dong Soo quit today in a controversy over a draft of his inaugural speech. The flap erupted when Ahn's office faxed a draft of the speech to reporters Monday. In it, Ahn said he "swears loyalty with a determination to sacrifice my life to help the Kim Dae Jung administration take power again." Ahn, a noted human rights lawyer, disavowed any knowledge of the draft. His secretary said someone else wrote it.

South Korean President Kim Young Sam on Monday denied involvement in a slush-fund scandal that threatens to plunge South Korea's political world and its economy into deep crisis. Kim's immediate predecessor, Roh Tae Woo, admitted last week to amassing a $653-million presidential slush fund, but Roh "never told me about party funds and I myself did not take part in operating the funds," Kim told a meeting of political leaders.

Former President Chun Doo Hwan, expressing regret over a scandal involving his younger brother, severed his last official links to power Wednesday, less than two weeks before a crucial electoral test of South Korea's fledgling democracy.

Influential South Koreans whose children were born in the United States and thus hold American citizenship long have taken advantage of an admissions system here that gives foreigners preference in getting their sons and daughters into universities without taking an arduous entrance examination. But when it was discovered that President Kim Young Sam's new justice minister used this loophole for his daughter, the first of two "mini-scandals" for the new Kim administration erupted.

Russian authorities ordered a South Korean diplomat expelled Saturday after he was detained on suspicion of spying. The diplomat, identified as Cho Sung Woo, was taken into custody overnight as he met with an alleged Russian contact, according to the Federal Security Service, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB. The contact, an employee of Russia's Foreign Ministry, was also detained, the statement said, The Russian was accused of spying for South Korea.

Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve President Kim Young Sam's choice for prime minister: Koh Kun, known for steering clear of scandal and corruption. Koh was mayor of Seoul from 1988 to 1990 under former President Roh Tae Woo, but he resigned in a dispute with the administration over a corrupt land rezoning deal. He succeeds Lee Soo Sung, who was premier for 15 months before he was sacrificed to take responsibility for a scandal over loans to failed Hanbo Iron & Steel Co.

Former South Korean President Roh Tae Woo, facing trial on sedition charges stemming from a bloody 1980 martial-law crackdown, testified Monday that the crushing of student protests had been necessary to safeguard against North Korean attack. "At the time, North Korea had stepped up provocations against our country," Roh, 63, declared defiantly in a court session during which he vigorously disputed prosecutors' interpretations of events.

President Kim Dae Jung replaced eight of the 19 members of his Cabinet today, naming a new finance minister to allay criticism that the pace of his economic reform program has been sluggish. Kim retained Prime Minister Lee Han Dong in his largely ceremonial post in the reshuffle. Most of the ministers affected held economic posts and were responsible for implementing reforms drawn up more than 2 1/2 years ago during Asia's currency crisis.

South Korean Prime Minister Park Tae Joon resigned today after a court ruled that he hid real estate assets worth more than $5 million in an effort to evade taxes. Park's position is largely ceremonial, and his resignation is not likely to affect President Kim Dae Jung's major policies, including closer relations with North Korea and economic reform. But the scandal probably will add to the South Korean public's already high level of cynicism toward its elected representatives.

South Korea's president replaced his finance and foreign ministers in a partial Cabinet shake-up that involved five other posts. In Seoul, President Kim Dae Jung named Lee Hun Jai--head of the Financial Supervisory Commission--as the new finance minister. The move was seen as a sign of Kim's determination to continue economic reforms. The president also replaced Hong Soon Young as foreign minister with Lee Joung Binn.

What do you do when you're courting someone who accepts your presents but then throws crockery at you and vilifies you in public--and rubs it in by demanding more gifts as proof of your good faith? Keep the door open, but post a guard, say the frustrated South Koreans, who are struggling once again to figure out what their intransigent northern neighbor really wants.

Former South Korean President Kim Young Sam once called corruption "the Korean disease." Now his successor, reformer Kim Dae Jung, is facing a series of explosive scandals and finding it as hard as ever to eradicate the long-bemoaned, entrenched culture of influence peddling, cronyism and payola.

Foreign Minister Park Jung Soo submitted his resignation to President Kim Dae Jung, a presidential spokesman said without elaborating. However, Park's resignation follows a diplomatic row between Moscow and Seoul in which Russia expelled a South Korean diplomat last month, accusing him of buying secret information. Seoul retaliated days later by kicking out a Russian diplomat.

Former South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan, who has been charged with mutiny, formally challenged the constitutional validity of a special law enacted to punish him and his former aides. An official at the Seoul District Court said Chun's lawyers filed an appeal with the court, requesting that it determine whether the special law violates the constitutional prohibition against retroactive legislation.

Three retired South Korean army generals, all cronies of former President Chun Doo Hwan, were arrested on charges of involvement in a brutal army crackdown on a civil revolt in 1980. A prosecution official said a Seoul court issued arrest warrants for former army chief of staff Hwang Yung Si and generals-turned-politicians Lee Hak Bong and Yoo Hak Seong. All three were close aides to Chun at the time of the massacre in the city of Kwangju in May 1980.

Russian authorities ordered a South Korean diplomat expelled Saturday after he was detained on suspicion of spying. The diplomat, identified as Cho Sung Woo, was taken into custody overnight as he met with an alleged Russian contact, according to the Federal Security Service, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB. The contact, an employee of Russia's Foreign Ministry, was also detained, the statement said, The Russian was accused of spying for South Korea.

Eight-year-old Erik Reinertsen held a microphone about as long as his tiny forearm and twisted nervously during his first and probably last chance to question the first lady of South Korea. "What's it like in Korea?" the boy asked Lee Hee Ho. On the surface, the question may have seemed trivial. But in truth, it was deeply symbolic.